Human Appeal, a humanitarian aid organisation based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, have donated 3 new standard incubators, 1 UV incubator and 2 phototherapy units to a hospital in Syria that was recently the target of airstrikes during the ongoing conflict. The donation will help up to 250 newborn babies every month.

Human Appeal donated the incubators to the hospital it helps to run, the Al-Iman hospital, which was the target of numerous airstrikes last year – the most recent being in August 2016. Previously there were 9 incubators (2 of which were not working properly) and 1 UV incubator was out of service. All the incubators were second hand and required maintenance frequently. The incubators were being used to full capacity and sometimes there was more than one baby kept in an incubator at one time. This had increased due to mass displacement in the previous months.

The hospital was the target of numerous airstrikes when it was based in Aleppo, so for security reasons, it has been relocated to Kah in Idlib. Human Appeal are helping referred all cases who need the incubator from Aleppo.

Othman Moqbel, Human Appeal’s Chief Executive said:

“Here in the UK we are currently caught up in our own General Election news. It’s easy to forget that there is still a conflict in Syria, there is still widespread suffering in Syria and there are still Syrians in desperate need of help and charity.”

“Al-Iman Hospital is a hospital that helps give live – we help with births of babies and help care for pregnant mothers. It is a building full of babies, women and doctors. The reality is that this hospital was targeted by bombs during the height of the conflict last year. It highlights that more needs to be done to make sure that all military actors in this conflict respect the rule of law. A maternity hospital is not a legitimate military target.

“Due to the fighting and fleeing from violence, the need for Al-Iman hospital is greater than ever, but the equipment it had was old and failing and wasn’t enough to meet demand. In Syria, where death and sadness is prevalent, it is more important than ever for Human Appeal for us to spread life and hope.”